It is also one of Dylan's best songs, when he was totally acoustic and very folk. "Free Wheeling" is one of my favorite Dylan albums and one of the best albums of all time. Also, my son is named Dylan...was I influenced, well maybe.

I was never exposed to Wilentz books. However, as a underclassman, I read Arthur Schlesinger Jr. quite a bit and even met him on one occasion. I recall recently Wilentz opposed Barrack Obama in favor of Hillary Clinton. In retrospect, his judgment may be given some credence.

The same, certainly goes for Wilentz' condemnation in Rolling Stone of George W Bush as the "worst president in history." That article provoked the National Review to calling Wilentz the modern Arthur Schlesinger!